The Heart Grows Fonder
by Lily the Luna
Summary: Crona's feelings for Maka develop as the two spend more and more time together until Maka and Soul are sent on a secret mission and drop contact. Years pass before Maka and Soul return to Death City to find that their friends have changed more than they imagined in the years they've been gone. Set after the end of the anime. Rating may change as the story develops.


Crona sits in Mr. Corner, holding a pillow between their knees and chest, resting peacefully, safe in the DWMA. Their face scrunches up, the early morning light of the rising sun beginning to filter through the window, high on the far wall. They begin to wake, slowly come out of a deep sleep; they were sleeping through the night more and more, recently.

"HEY MORON! WAKE UP!" Ragnarok shouts at Crona, no more than six inches from their ear. Crona's awakening accelerates, bringing them into full consciousness immediately. "AHHH!" they shout back, curling tighter into a ball. After a moment, Crona raises their head and pouts at Ragnarok. "Why'd you wake me up so loudly, Ragnarok? I was having a good dream…"

"HA, I bet you were dreaming about your precious little girlfriend Maka!" Ragnarok mocks. "Well no time for your gay ass crush! I'M HUNGRY!" At this, he begins to gently pummel Crona's head, his arms having long ago lost their bulk and strength are now unable to do much damage.

"Ok-Ok-Fine!" Crona said, rising to their feet, still gripping the pillow. Satisfied, Ragnarok retreats back into them. Moving across the room, they set the pillow back on the still-perfectly made bed. Maka and Miss Marie said they shouldn't feel undeserving of it, but Medusa's abuse still affects them and Crona cannot help but feel vulnerable and undeserving on the bed. Dead as she may be, a part of Medusa remains: the scars she left on her child. Months have passed since Medusa's final defeat by Maka's Genie Hunter, but Crona still can't shake her power over them. They walk from the bed to the sink.

Maka once lectured them on proper dental hygiene when Crona told her they didn't know what a toothbrush was. She ended up dragging them to a nearby store and bought them a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and a small flowery cup for rinsing. Crona smiles a soft smile as they pick up the toothbrush and squirt paste onto its blue bristles, letting their mind wander as they clean their mouth of morning gunk; with all the reminders of Maka, this part of the morning was almost their favorite, second only to meeting Maka when she came to class in the morning, a content smile on her face always letting them know the day would be a good one.

Crona quickly finishes their morning routine - aware that Ragnarok was becoming impatient for breakfast - and shuffles out of their room, slowly closing the door behind them. Even though the school provided a lock for the door, Crona didn't bother with it: they have nothing worth stealing.

They start on their familiar path through the winding corridors that make up the DWMA's sprawling intestines with the intent of getting breakfast for the weapon-meister duo. Ragnarok pops out of their back in a typical fashion and grabs a hold of Crona's hair, excitedly steering them towards his objective. "Hurry up, you lazy slowpoke! I want to get there before all the good stuff runs out!" Ragnarok berated. Crona didn't know what he was talking about, as they were often the first ones to the cafeteria. Nevertheless, they sped up a little, submitting to their weapon's whim.

Ragnarok continues to scold and fuss at Crona until they reach the cafeteria, a large room with self-serve lines along two walls, when he suddenly bursts into a song about "glorious food" or something. , Crona was able to tune him out more and more, as he no longer has the physical strength or determination to enforce attention: Ragnarok's pride had continued to slip away after all the perceived embarrassment the two had suffered. Crona moves on auto-pilot to the closest line and begins to fill a plate heaping full with eggs, toast, sausages, and various other tasty tidbits while their mind wanders, a less hellish pastime nowadays.

They think on their plans for the day, their homework assignments, and the friends they had made in their time at the academy, Maka, Soul, Kid, Liz and Patty, BlackStar, and Tsubaki. Thinking about their friends always elicits a soft smile. It isn't long until their thoughts settle on their closest friend, Maka, and their smile widened into a small grin. With a tray overfilled with food, Crona chooses a seat at random and sits down. Ragnarok retracted his body into Crona's then soon bursts out of their chest and begins shovelling food into the gaping hole that is his mouth. Crona nibbles on a piece of toast as their weapon feasts, diminishing the stack of food at such an impressive rate that it concerned the kitchen staff when the demon sword arrived months ago.

As soon as the last bite of food is consumed, Ragnarok lets out an enormous belch that seems to echo off the walls in the still-empty cafeteria: the other students would only now be arriving at the academy proper. Classes were still nearly an hour away. "What's with that dumb look on your face?" Ragnarok asks suspiciously. Crona stands and moves to put the food tray away.

The smile remains on Crona's face as they answer their bully of a weapon. "I think today is going to be a good day," they say simply, moving toward the doors that lead back out into the halls of Shibusen. "Oh? I bet you just can't wait to see your girlfriend! HA! That's gotta be it," the weapon accuses, bonking them in the head.

"Maka's just a friend!" Crona blurts nervously, frowning as a gray blush tints their cheeks in embarrassment.

"Yeah right, I've seen what you've written in that stupid gay diary. You lo~ve that ugly cow!" Ragnarok mocks, laughing before retreating back into Crona. They were approaching the main entrance, and he had no desire to be around Crona's friends.

"It's not stupid! Miss Marie said that journaling can be really therapeutic and that I should write in it every day," they retort, defending themself in an empty hallway. They know Ragnarok isn't listening and doesn't care, and soon their thoughts turn back to Maka and the smile quickly returns to their face. They leave the school building and stand near the pillars by the entrance, waiting for Maka in their usual spot. A few students stand around the courtyard chatting amongst their friend groups. Only a couple of students spare Crona any attention, their presence having become a regular part of life at Shibusen. Many students are still wary around them as they remember Crona's actions before joining the academy, and Crona doesn't have high hopes that they would have a chance to expand their friend group, but the other students leave them alone for the most part.

Crona stands waiting and watching the stairs for an approaching Maka, the courtyard stretching out in front of them, symmetrical spires casting long, thin shadows along the ground in front of them. They wait, taking in the familiar scene from afar, shrouded in the shadow of the entryway, until they hear a familiar voice behind them say, "Hello Crona. Enjoying the sunrise? It's quite a nice morning." Crona flinches, then turns around to meet the eyes of one of their closest friends, Death the Kid. He is dressed immaculately in his usual garb: a white dress shirt underneath a black dress jacket with matching slacks, a skull clasp centered beneath his chin. He stands in front of a different pillar with his hands held behind his back as he smiles softly at Crona.

"K-kid?! I'm sorry, it- that is- the sun-" Crona stammers before pausing for a moment to take a few deep breaths to calm down from the shock before answering Kid's question. "Y-yes, the morning is, um, nice." Kid nods, his smile growing upon seeing their friend taking measures to control their panic, and turns back toward the sunrise, letting the light illuminate his face. The two stand in a comfortable silence, one of many they had shared over the previous months of both living at the academy, Kid having moved in to better learn his reaper responsibilities. After the fight with Asura, and connecting all three lines of Sanzu, his father thought it prudent to begin teaching him how to run the DWMA. Crona and Kid don't often spend the mornings together, as Kid usually takes hours to get ready and leave his room in the DWMA, often only just barely making it on time to class.

Crona's eyes move from watching Kid's face back to the stairs, dutifully watching for Maka, their closest friend. With nearly half an hour until classes began, Crona began to worry, grabbing their arm above the elbow in a familiar, comfortable stance. Images of her hurt on the stairs with no one to help flash through their head, along with fears of her being so sick she's bedridden, or having been abducted, or sent out on a dangerous secret mission without contact.

"The school grounds are truly spectacular, don't you think, Crona? I wasn't born yet, but still my father made everything symmetrical, almost as if for me," Kid says without prompt, looking at Crona from the corners of his eyes. "Now if only the sun would cooperate and rise over the stairs instead of to the left." His comment draws Crona's attention to the sun and away from their thoughts, and, sure enough, it is just slightly to the left of the center of the courtyard. Unnoticeable to a casual observer, it is just enough off-center that the young reaper could find fault.

Turning their attention back to their friend, Crona replies, "it um, it's really pretty though. I like Mr. Sun. H-he always looks so happy here."

"Yes, I suppose it does. Have you ever been to the desert? It seems more angry than happy there."

The two chat for a few minutes about traveling and their favorite locations. Crona adamantly asserts that the academy is absolutely amazing and their most adored address, earning another warm smile from Kid; he had always loved the school, the seat of his father's influence and power, and is always happy to hear that others appreciated it as well. Their conversation ends when Crona glances back toward the stairs and smiles widely - for them at least. On another person it would be seen as utterly unremarkable, but on Crona it shines brilliantly, a contrast from their normally sad expression.

Kid follows their gaze and spots a couple of their closest friends: Maka, Soul, Black Star, and Tsubaki, all dressed in their usual school clothes. Black Star is at the front of the group, running ahead and stopping to goad the others to move faster, yelling about how slow they are. Behind him is Soul, who walks as if without a care in the world, hands locked loftily behind his head, trademark cool-guy smirk on his face. Bringing up the rear are Tsubaki and Maka, who are talking with each other; they are too far away for Crona to hear the content of their conversation.

The demon sword meister gives a small wave toward Maka's group, trying to get her attention: it works. Tsubaki nudges Maka and points towards them, and Maka speeds up, passing Soul, a smile growing on her face as she approaches the relatively small entrance to the enormous school.

"Good morning, Crona," Maka says loudly, still a fair distance away from the swordsman. She continues to jog towards the doors and passes Black Star. She begins to slow as she reaches Crona, but just before she stops fully, a blur rushed past her and tackles Crona to the ground.

"YAHOO! Take that Maka! I beat you in the race to Crona!" Black Star boasts loudly, still sitting on top of Crona, who is shaking and covering their face with their hands.

Maka clenches her hands at her sides and softly begins to say, "Maka… CHOP!" She slams an enormous green tome horizontally into Black Star's face, which crumples under the blow. He is knocked from his seat and hits a nearby pillar. "We weren't racing you big idiot! Look what you did to poor Crona," she yells, gesturing to Crona who had curled into a ball as soon as Black Star was ejected from their lap.

The group of friends gathers around the injured ninja to pry him from the wall, fix his clothes, and chastise him either for tackling Crona or, in Kid's case, breaking the symmetry of the courtyard. Crona shivers, vibrating with how much they try not to move and draw attention, and huddles against a wall. They rapidly whisper apologies and promises that they won't do it again, though they were unsure of what they did to deserve punishment - a common occurrence in their life under Medusa. Maka crouches next to them and places a gentle hand on Crona's shoulder. "It's okay, Crona. It was just Black Star being a jerk. You're not in trouble," she says, trying to calm their friend down. She begins to lightly rub Crona's shoulder, moving down his back to trace haphazard circles with her palm.

Crona stops shivering and seems to relax under her ministrations. They're still curled in on themself, but moves their arm out of their face to look at Maka. She wears a comforting, soft smile, her eyes filled with compassion, empty of the judgement that so many seem to pass upon them.

"Are… are you sure you're not mad?" Crona asks, rationally knowing that Maka had no reason to be angry but needing to hear the words from her mouth.

Maka's smile grows infantismally upon hearing their voice for the first time that morning. "I promise no one is mad." At that moment, the school bell rings, signaling that students had 10 minutes to get to class before being counted as late.

Death the Kid speaks up. "We should get going, no sense in being tardy, and Black Star obviously doesn't need to go to the nurse. Maka, can I trust you to ensure Crona makes it to class?" At her nod, he and the others start to move back inside the school building, leaving Crona and Maka alone.

When they are alone, Crona unfurls and sits up; with no one but Maka to see them, they can stop hiding. Maka sits next to them, still rubbing circles on their back. Crona leans over, resting their head on their best friend's shoulder, and Maka responds by holding them tighter and laying her head on theirs.

A few minutes pass like this in silence, the two young meisters sitting alone, shadows shielding them from the morning sun. Crona's thoughts are oddly quiet, an effect of Maka's touch. "S'nice…" they mutter softly.

A few moments more pass until Maka releases Crona's shoulder and announces, "come on Crona, we should hurry to class before we're late." They lift their head and the two lock eyes, only inches between them. Maka's previous suggestion of leaving is forgotten as she stares into those deep, dark eyes that she looks forward to seeing every day. The world around them stills as the scythe meister searches Crona's face for something, both of their breathing slowing until Maka holds their lips in her gaze. Unsure of her actions, she leans forward, ever so slightly closing the distance between them until...

"M-M-Maka, we're going t-to b-b-be late." Crona's words break the reverie between them and Maka flinches backwards, her eyes wide and face red with the realization of what she nearly did. She hopes that Crona wouldn't realize what almost happened - she couldn't stand the thought that she almost took advantage of them. Though kissing them had been on her mind for a few weeks, she told herself that to actually do so would be wrong, akin to forcing Crona because she knows they would put her feelings before their own.

Maka, still blushing heavily, stands and reaches a hand out to Crona to lift them up; the pink haired meister takes their friend's hand and stands. The two walk inside and begin the familiar path to Dr. Stein's classroom. Crona glances down to where their hands are still locked together and smiles, happy that Maka hadn't released them yet; they love when she touches them and savors those moments for as long as they last, then look forward to the next time when those soft touches end.

When they reach the classroom door, Maka drops Crona's hand to open the door and leads them inside, taking their usual seats next to each other, and they wait for class to begin.


End file.
